Not so Platinum ..lost the spark

Sail Date:
August 2013

Destination:
Europe - Western Mediterranean

Embarkation:
Other

We have just traveled on the Thomson Celebration for a week in August, we sailed in April of this year on the same ship. In the few months we have seen a big change, between cruise dates. It is now Platinum but I have to say it is more Bronze !! Thomson have certainly lost the spark. We have cruised with Thomson 5 times now and always been impressed. But if this is the future then its a very sad future.

Firstly the bar service is very poor we had to wait up to 45 mins to get bar staff then further waiting time to get the drinks, we even had to go to bars to ask for drinks to which you are blanked ! This is at every bar. The all inclusive drinks or rather as they are calling it now ...drinks package is poor. We pay 398 for 2 people for a week in advance and for this you get very warm, flat drinks. I witnessed several times while trying to get drinks that a can can do 3 drinks with the amount of ice put in a glass, if you ask for a drink without ice you get a smaller glass! In More
general you get left over flat warm pop that as been sat on the bar and once glass filled with ice there is not a lot of pop !! They keep changing what is included water as been missing for a while now but now they have taken of cans and they keep adding supplements to bar menu. Really a bad deal now. You might as well pay when you go and share a can with two glasses of ice and you would get better quality.

Entertainment as now been removed from the Explorers bar so people who would have gone in there are now in Hemmingways , which can not cope at the bar and does not have enough seating. Where as before even though the ship was full you felt it to be spacious you now feel crowded.

The 24 hr buffet restaurant as been stopped and while I understand that its a shame to waste food if no one going in to close at 2am is poor when the casino and some bars are only just closing, it really needs to be 3am. I have never been in at 2am and it be empty !!

In general staff moral is at a low and where as before you were always smiled at and greeted with an hello you can be ignored. Cleaning was no way as good either in general you could see a lack of staff throughout.

The entertainment is still very good and exceptional at times, although Steve the cruise director is a bit holiday campish. Lorna,Lewis and Gavin are brilliant and Top Men are fab. Thomson need to bring back what we were paying for , to upgrade the ship and take things away is wrong. Tea & coffee in room and flat screen tv really not needed , we need customer care back and re-look at the drinks package.

Cabin review: 813

Would never go so low as deck one , smells when they fill up fuel and very noisy. Cabin size is ok you not in it long and looks well since re-vamp. Bed a little hard. Plenty of storage too. Been on 3 and 4 much better.

We went out alone and was ripped off in a taxi, he double crossed the money, said we had only given him 5 tl and we had given him 50 turkish, also dropped us up a side street a long way from where we needed to be. Would I go again ..no...